Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

30 April
2014 Auckland:
Penguin Random House today announced a new leadership structure in New Zealand
with Margaret Thompson appointed to the newly created position of Managing
Director, Penguin Random House New Zealand.

Gabrielle
Coyne, Chief Executive Officer Penguin Random House Asia Pacific, said, “I am
delighted Margaret has accepted this important new role. Along with her
wide ranging experience, Margaret brings a strong mix of publishing acumen,
matched with an unwavering sales optimism and flair.”

Margaret
Thompson’s career in publishing spans more than 30 years across Australia and
New Zealand. She has been Managing Director of Penguin New Zealand since
2005. In 2007 Margaret steered the acquisition of Reed Publishing and in
2009 led Penguin’s acquisition of Mallinson Rendell Publishing; the originating
publisher of Lynley Dodd, author of the global bestselling Hairy Maclary
books, which have now sold over 9 million copies worldwide.

Margaret
Thompson said, “I am delighted to accept this position and look forward to
leading the Penguin Random House team to create an exciting new company which
will continue to be committed to local publishing, supportive of our authors
and booksellers and focused on maintaining a vibrant and creative presence in
New Zealand.”

With Margaret’s
appointment, Karen Ferns Joint Managing Director of Random House Australia and
New Zealand will sadly leave the company on 16 May.

Karen has
made an invaluable contribution to Random House growing the sales and company
over many years. Highly respected within the publishing industry, Karen
has been a passionate advocate for New Zealand and New Zealand
publishing. She joined Random House New Zealand as Sales and Marketing
Director in 1999 and was appointed Managing Director in 2008. In 2012 she was
appointed Joint Managing Director of Random House Australia and New Zealand.

With over 12 million copies soldin 37
different languages to 55 territories, Camilla Lackberg is carrying on the tradition of Scandinavian noir in high style. She
writes contemporary psychological thrillers,the latest of which to be translated into English is Buried
Angels.

Disney
and Pixar Spotlight Staff Talent
The Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios have teamed up
with Disney Publishing Worldwide to launch a series of children's books created
by animation artists and storytellers at each studio. Released this month, the
debut Walt Disney Animation Studios Artist Showcase title is No Slurping, No
Burping!: A Tale of Table Manners; the Pixar Animation Studios Artist
Showcase kicks off in September with Over There. more

DK
Enters the Teen Market with
Nonfiction Line
For 40 years, DK has published illustrated nonfiction books for adults and
children that have become staples on bookstore shelves – most notably, in kids'
sections, the Eyewitness series. This month, DK releases its first
teen-targeted title, Heads Up Psychology, the debut book of a copiously
illustrated nonfiction line spanning many subjects. Subsequent 2014 releases
are Do You Know Who You Are?, The Fashion Book, and Heads Up
Philosophy. more

What do you do when a lifelong friend suddenly abandons you à
la Lloyd Schwartz?
Or when another becomes so obsessed with peak oil that he moves to Missouri
to avoid high-density areas (in case the world’s economy crashes and people
desperately fight each other for food), stocks up for Armageddon, and sends
you nine-page emails in response to your refusal to join him in Missouri?
How do you approach one who is prepared to tell obvious lies in order to
hide the demons that plague him?

If you’re like most people, you’ll take a seat in a dark room
and evaluate the life choices that have led to these unique friendships.
Tim Kreider, however, turns them into case studies in We Learn Nothing,
exploring their nuances, flaws, and strengths in a series of astute and
hilarious essays that tackle the slippery nature of human relationships.

Kreider explores when to fight for a friendship or redefine
its boundaries (hint: ban Peak Oil Guy from ever discussing that subject
with you again, but keep his phone number just in case). He tackles when to
let a relationship loose (if, for example, a relative is in prison for the
eleventh time, this time for attempting to burn his tenants—yes, tenants—to
the ground, under no circumstances should you loan him money for his
release date, i.e., two thousand and never), and when to accept a friend’s
choices regardless of how they affect your friendship (Kreider has a solid
policy to always say yes when someone asks him to nurse them through
sex-change surgery). Ultimately, Kreider makes a case for accepting the people
in our lives, whether we are tied to them by blood, beer, shared exploits
or shared last names, for who they are.

Full of Kreider’s famous illustrations, We Learn Nothing is a
funny, poignant, and heartwarming collection that is not scared to ask the hard
questions about our relationships and gracefully tackles the messy
solutions.

Posted: 04/29/2014 HuffPost Books

Americans value their libraries, but there are still misconceptions about libraries that exist among folks who maybe haven't visited a library in a while... or haven't visited one ever! Since we at the Library as Incubator Project work hard to highlight the many ways that libraries and artists can support each other, we thought we'd turn some of these misconceptions on their head by looking at them through an artsy lens. #1: Libraries are quiet spaces--all the time, everywhere While there are many libraries that offer quiet areas for their patrons to study, read, and contemplate, the era of strict shushing by librarians is pretty much over. The atmosphere is changing as libraries incorporate more hands-on programs, performances, and lively workshops into their program offerings. Consider the concert series sponsored by Get it Loud in Libraries from the UK, or the lively Literacy Smackdown, a robot vs. monster battle facilitated by educator Dr. Matt Finch in Australia. These programs turn the image of the "quiet library" on its head and embrace a creative vision of the role of the public library--as a space to experience new music, not just in recorded formats but live as well, and as a place to tell stories through role play.More

The
judges are delighted to announce the shortlist for the inaugural Sarah Broom
Poetry Prize. This prize has been established in honour of poet Sarah Broom
(1972-2013), and aims to provide recognition and a financial contribution for
an emerging or established poet, to support the completion of a full manuscript
of original poetry.

The
prize attracted almost 300 entries in its first year from New Zealanders across
the country and living overseas. The shortlist has been selected by a judging
panel including Sarah Ross, Paula Green, Michael Gleissner, and iconic New
Zealand poet Sam Hunt. In 2014 the prize is $12,000.

“It
is very encouraging to see that poetry is thriving in our communities,” says the
prize founder Michael Gleissner. “The entries demonstrated an impressive range
of complexity, subject matter, tone, style and form which made it a tough job
for the judges.”

The
finalists are:

Emma Neale: ADunedin-based
poet, novelist, teacher, mentor and anthologist who has published four poetry
collections.

CK Stead: An established poetwho has published over 40 volumes of poetry, fiction, memoir and
criticism and received numerous awards.

Kirsti Whalen: A poet and disability advocate studying
Creative Writing at Manukau Institute. She has published poems in various journals.

The three finalists will each read in a free session at
the Auckland Writers Festival on Sunday 18 May from 1 - 2pm in the Upper NZI
Room, Aotea Centre, Auckland where Sam Hunt will announce the winner.

29 Apr 2014 - Booksellers NZ

Calling all book lovers! Face TV, working with two of this country's most well-known book people, wants to respond to audience demand; and produce & screen a weekly TV show. Called simply The Book Show, it will be written and presented by Graham Beattie and Carole Beu. Graham Beattie has a popular book blog widely read in NZ and beyond; and Carole Beu runs the highly successful Women's Bookshop in Ponsonby, which recently celebrated 25 years, and is a loyal member of Booksellers NZ. Both of them are chatty and charming and amazingly informed about the written word – whether it's in print or on your Kindle or Kobo. Each week the programme will feature author interviews, reviews and great reads from both NZ contributors and visiting international book people. Face Television (formerly Triangle TV) is Sky's non-profit public media contribution and started broadcasting early this year – filling a gap in the media landscape and allowing independent programme makers and communities the opportunity to create and broadcast content nationwide.The Book Show will be screened weekly on Face TV – prime time with a daytime repeat; as well as being made available online. Because Face TV is a non-profit television service we are able to produce a 12 part series for $6,000 and we're looking for donations to fund this. To donate towards making this show a reality, please click through to boosted.org.nz. during May.

The owners of West London independent Kew Bookshop have launched a petition to stop the planned demolition of its premises. The landlords, CP Holdings and Burning Issue Ltd, have submitted a planning application to Richmond Council to demolish the “charming wooden building” which houses the bookshop and replace it with brick, building a new second level above the shop to double the retail space. The petition asks signatories to say that they “strongly oppose Planning Application and any other plan” by the landlords that would change Kew Village “into a retail environment of chain stores and multi-national firms”. A deadline of 1st June has been given for signing the petition. Isla Dawes, the owner of The Kew Bookshop, which turns over £300,000 a year, on top of its schools business, said: "The charm of these buildings is their wooden structure. They have stood for almost a century. If the shop was reclad, it would stand for another 100 years." Dawes, who also owns bookshops in Sheen and Barnes, told The Bookseller: "If the planning application went through, I could not afford the rent on the new double-storey premises, so I would have to close that shop. The point I would like to make is that it is not long since we lost the Lion and Unicorn Bookshop nearby in Richmond due to landlord greed. How many more good independent bookshops are we going to lose because of this?" More

The NHS, Tesco and Tristram Hunt among 'people and institutions who should know better' in line for badge of shame

In the frame … Tristram Hunt MP. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

The Idler Academy, an offshoot of the magazine which offers courses in everything from philosophy to ukulele playing, has announced the shortlist for its 2014 Bad Grammar award, set up to highlight "the incorrect use of English by people and institutions who should know better".The shortlist is headed by Tesco, for using "less" not "fewer" in reference to numbers on loo-roll packaging – "Same Luxury. Less Lorries" – and for describing its orange juice as "most tastiest".More

Roald Dahl's classic is to be filmed by the team behind ET. Can the adaptation possibly live up to the magic of the original?

News broke over the weekend that Steven Spielberg is set to direct a film of The BFG. It'll be the story's second adaptation; in 1989 it was made into an animated TV film. This one will be live action, say reports; the script will be by ET scriptwriter Melissa Mathison, and it's due to come out in 2016.I'm in two minds about the news. The BFG is such a huge part of my childhood reading; of the masses and acres of books I roared through, it stands out as one of the few titles of which I remember whole chunks, even today, almost verbatim. The thought of frobscottle still enchants me – delumptious, with its downwards-whizzing bubbles, and its taste of raspberries and vanilla. "'Whenever I is feeling a bit scrotty,' the BFG said, 'a few gollops of frobscottle is always making me hopscotchy again.'"More

Humble
Bundle, Image Offer All-Graphic Novel e-Bundle
Humble Bundle, the website that bundles digital content and offers it to
consumers for whatever they wish to pay, is teaming with Image Comics to offer
its first all-graphic novel digital bundle. And beginning May 13 HB will start
a “Book Tab,” a page on the site dedicated to e-book and audiobook promotions. more »

German
Publisher Makes Digital Move in the U.S.
German publisher Bastei Lubbe is the latest overseas publisher to use digital
distribution to enter the U.S. market. Over the next year, the company plans to
release 200 e-books and 20 apps into the U.S. According to Colin Lovrinovic,
head of international sales for Bastei, the company began a limited rollout
over the winter and is now accelerating the pace of its release schedule. more » »

Giovanni's Room
to Close: A longtime staple in the Philadelphia LGBT community
is closing its doors—the country’s oldest LGBT bookstore, Giovanni’s Room, will
close May 17.

Ban
"Violent" Seuss Title, Says Patron: Dr. Seuss’s
beloved 1963 picture book "Hop on Pop" encourages children to take a
pop at dad, according to an irate reader who demanded that the Toronto Public
Library ban it from its collection.